Gokusen 4: Lost in the Darkness
by Yankumi7
Summary: Two years after the events on Gokusen 3, Yamaguchi Kumiko faces the darkest time of her life. W/ her heart filled w/ hatred and an enormous responsibility upon her shoulders,she must now choose between her dream of teaching and her duty to the Ooedo clan
1. Kumicho

**INTRODUCTION:**

I've read a lot of Gokusen fanfics online and although they are quite brilliant and very entertaining, most of them couldn't possibly happen in the real Gokusen series. I wanted to write a fanfic that is more plausible and not just a fan-girl fantasy. So I came-up with this.

This is set two years after Gokusen 3. In the Gokusen series, Yankumi had always been a morally perfect character. She always knew the right thing to do, she was always good and she was always helping and protecting others. So now, I created a different Yankumi. I wanted to see a side of Yankumi that we've never seen before. A Yankumi that has flaws. A Yankumi that's more human. This time, she's the one who needs to be helped and protected. Also, since I'm a Shinkumi shipper, I added the much awaited Yankumi and Shin reunion. But their romance here is not the fan-girl shoujo type, this time it's more real and matches their personalities. And of course, we have a new batch of class 3-D students which are worse than all of the past class 3-D students put together! Well, I'm no writer, so this is not perfect but I hope you like it!

**Chapter 1: Kumicho**

**_Kuroda Gakuen, Tokyo_**

"Head teacher!! Terrible news! Matsuda and Kanzaki's gang are fighting again!" a frantic Yabe-sensei yelled as he stormed into the faculty room.

"What!? This is the third time this week! Where's their homeroom teacher, Ito-sensei?" Head teacher Sawatari asked, trying to look as calm as possible.

At that moment, Sawatari-sensei heard a soft whimpering sound coming from the desk behind him. He slowly walked around it and carefully bent over to look underneath it. Curled-up under the desk was the shaking and terrified-looking Ito-sensei. Ito-sensei was a tall and very athletic man but he looked so small and frail as he cowered under his desk.

"Ito-sensei! What the hell are you doing down there?" inquired Sawatari-sensei.

Ito-sensei's body began to shake uncontrollably and there was a look of madness in his eyes as he stuttered, "I- i-it's impossible!! I ca-can't do it anymore! Tho-tho-those aren't kids! They-they're monsters!"

He buried his head between his knees and muttered over and over "Monsters! Monsters! Monsters!"

Sawatari-sensei walked towards the window and peered through the blinds. He looked down at the school courtyard to see the chaos that was happening at that moment. The courtyard transformed into a dark and terrifying battlefield and the students looked like savage beasts as they relentlessly fought one another. The war between the various groups had definitely gone beyond the faculty's control.

Sawatari-sensei turned around and looked at his right-hand man, Yabe-sensei, with a very serious expression.

"I never thought I'd have to do this again, but they leave us with no other choice. We cannot do this alone. We need HER!"

**_Fujiwara Clan Headquarters, Tokyo_**

"Your guests have arrived, Kumicho."

"They are very predictable, indeed. Let them in."

As the leader of the Fujiwara Clan said those words, the two gigantic doors of the great room of the luxurious manor opened in unison. Four people stepped inside. These four people looked around and saw a room filled with around 300 men in expensive-looking black suits, all with scary faces and wearing pins engraved with the Fujiwara clan crest on their lapels.

Standing in the middle of the room was a man in his late forties. His hair was slicked back and he was wearing an elegant white suit. His suit was not the only thing that made him stand-out of the crowd. It was the look of deviousness and great intelligence in his eyes. One look at him and you could easily tell that he's someone of high importance and stature.

He gave his visitors a gentle smile and said in a very soft and friendly voice, "My, my, this is a very pleasant surprise! Welcome my friends!"

But even with his cheery greeting, the four guests only stared at him with great hostility.

The man lightly chuckled and said, sounding extremely amused "What's with that look on your faces?" Then his expression suddenly changed into a false look of remorse. "Oh, I completely forgot. Where's my manners? I am sorry for what happened to your leader. He was a great man and his death is a great loss to a – "

Before he could finish what he was saying, one of the four guests lost his temper and shouted, "Stop playing dumb! We all know you're the one responsible for his death!" He stepped forward and was about to attack the man but his companion stopped him.

"That's enough, Minoru", said his companion, a tall man with a sad face, dark skin and a weird mustache.

That man stepped forward, held his head up high and looked straight at the Fujiwara clan leader's eyes. Then he said with great conviction, "We did not come here to fight. We came here to tell you that the Ooedo clan will not give up! No matter what you do to us, no matter how hard you hit us, we will not hand our territory to a filthy, conniving scumbag like you! We will protect it just like our leader protected it with his life!"

The Fujiwara clan leader laughed, as if he heard a very funny joke and said "Leader? That's just it, isn't it? You don't have a leader anymore. So how can you even call yourself a clan? You're just a bunch of thugs!" He paused for a moment and gave them a very sinister smile as he said, "The Ooedo clan died with its leader!"

"Don't be so certain!" A very distinctive female voice said from behind the four members of the Ooedo clan.

The four of them jumped in surprised and slowly turned around. Standing behind them was a woman in her early thirties, with long dark hair, fair complexion and wearing a black and white kimono with blood-red accents.

The members of the Ooedo clan stood there in a state of shock and disbelief as the woman slowly walked towards the Fujiwara clan's leader, her brown eyes never leaving his gaze. She walked with such grace and regal bearing that everyone instinctively knew they must give her their utmost respect. The crowd was in dead silence, holding their breath in anticipation.

Intrigued by the unnerving presence of this mysterious woman, the leader of Fujiwara clan began to look serious for the first time. He raised his head and said without a single hint of amusement in his voice, "Who are you?"

The woman halted and gave him a mischievous smile as she said, "Who am I?"

She paused for a moment then her whole expression changed. She suddenly looked deadly serious and extremely determined. She looked at the crowd with a piercing gaze then back at their leader. And with the resolute voice of a true yakuza boss, she said these words:

"I am the 4th Generation Leader of the Ooedo Clan… Yamaguchi Kumiko!"

**_NEXT CHAPTER: "The Blood-stained Jersey"_**


	2. The Bloodstained Jersey

Okay, here's the second chapter. This one was told from Sawatari's point-of-view.

To mysterygal02: Yes, Shin's gonna be in this. I'm one of the biggest Shinkumi shipper there is so he'll definitely be here! But I want their relationship to make sense so this is going to be a bit different from the usual Shinkumi fanfics (where they're suddenly madly in-love with each other and acting all lovey-dovey). He'll probably appear on the 5th or 6th chapter.

To Spraypaintandpocky: Yes, I have a youtube account under the name Yankumi7. I also have a crunchyroll, multiply and wordpress account under the same name :-P Wait, are you the one who made that Takeda video called "Time of Dying" on youtube?

**Chapter 2: The Blood-stained Jersey**

"Excuse me! Is anyone home? Excuse me!" Sawatari Goro yelled as he knocked at the large wooden gates of the Ooedo family home.

A bald and chubby man slowly opened the gates and stuck his head out. "Sawatari- sensei?!" he said in surprise.

"Oh! You're Mi – , Mi –, Mimura? No, Minato? Mi – Mi –, Ah Miso!"

"It's Mi-no-ru!! What are you doing here anyway?"

"Uhm, well, I heard of what happened to your leader. I'm terribly sorry for your loss." Sawatari said with a very serious expression. There was an uncomfortable silence for a moment, then he suddenly blurted out, "By the way, is Yamaguchi-sensei here!?"

At the mention of his Ojou's name, Minoru looked down on the ground with a sad expression on his face.

Curious, Sawatari asked, "What's wrong? Did something bad happen to her?"

Minoru didn't say a word at first and continued staring at the ground. Then after a short while, he suddenly said without raising his head, "I don't think she would want to see you."

"Eh! Why's that?" Sawatari inquired, slightly confused.

"Ojou… I mean, Kumicho, doesn't want anything to do with teaching anymore."

Sawatari shook his head in disbelief and lightly chuckled, "That's impossible! I don't know anyone who loves teaching as much as that silly woman does!"

Minoru suddenly raised his head and Sawatari saw his eyes were filled with tears. Then he grabbed Sawatari's arm and said "Come with me!"

Sawatari found himself being dragged by his arm into an old abandoned pier. Tarnished and derelict cargo ships lined up on the harbor; empty and dilapidated shipping containers were stacked all over the place; and pipes, machineries and all sorts of trash and debris were scattered everywhere. The whole place gave Sawatari a very creepy and ominous vibe. Even the sky seemed darker and more depressing there. He desperately wanted to leave but Minoru's tight grip and sorrowful face kept him from running away.

"Wait a second, Minoru-san! Where exactly are you taking me?" Sawatari asked.

"I'm taking you to Ojou." Minoru replied without even glancing at Sawatari-sensei.

"Yamaguchi-sensei?" asked Sawatari. Now he's really confused. What would Yamaguchi-sensei be doing in a place like this? Sawatari-sensei opened his mouth and was about to ask Minoru when he heard a loud crashing noise.

"What's that?!" Sawatari shrieked. Panic welling-up inside him.

But instead of answering him, Minoru just pulled his arm and led him to the back of a large wall made of stacked shipping containers. And what he saw there made him shiver like a wet dog.

Around forty to fifty men in dark suits, all armed with razor sharp dosu (yakuza sword) were standing around a person whom they seemed to be preparing to attack. Sawatari couldn't see who that person was because the men in suits where blocking his view, but he could see a patch of red amidst the sea of black clothing. The atmosphere was so intense that Sawatari could hardly breathe. Those men had that blood-thirsty look in their eyes and he almost felt sorry for who ever it was who's standing in the middle.

Then, all of a sudden, something colorful on Sawatari's left, grabbed his attention and he turned to look at it. There he saw three men, all bloody and beaten to a pulp. One of them was wearing a colorful shirt, which was what grabbed Sawatari's attention. Sawatari recognized their faces but before he could fully understand what was going on, lightning flashed, thundered rolled and rain began to pour. And as the rain fell hard on their heads, the men in dark suits yelled and charged towards the person standing in middle.

It was dark and blurry because of the rain and everything happened so fast. Sawatari felt like he was trapped inside some horrifying nightmare. There was blood everywhere. Fallen bodies lay scattered all over the place. And blaring screams of anger and pain echoed around the pier. It was a terrifying sight! As more and more men fell to ground, Sawatari finally had a good view of the person in red. He recognized the red jersey, he recognized the long dark hair, but he could barely recognize the face of the person standing amidst all of this carnage.

Standing in the middle of the fallen bodies, was a woman who looked exactly like Yamaguchi Kumiko. But to Sawatari, that person couldn't possibly be Yamaguchi-sensei! There's just no way it's her! Those terrifying brown eyes were not the eyes of the idealistic teacher he'd known for 9 years.

The fight was about to end. Almost all of the men in suits were lying on the ground. Only five of them remained standing. The woman stared menacingly at those five men. She had few cuts and bruises on her arms and legs and blood trickled down her cheeks from a gash on her forehead. But she seemed to feel no pain as she stood tall and proud in front of them, in her blood-stained jersey and holding a long katana on her right hand.

As she looked at each of the five men, they began to shiver in fear but they refused to accept their defeat. They tightened their grip on their dosu and prepared to attack once more. The woman gave them a daunting smile as if challenging them to do their worst.

But as the men were about to attack, a pile of debris fell from the container above Sawatari, making him shriek in surprise. At the sound of Sawatari's voice, the woman in red lost her focus and looked at the direction where the noise came from. It was a terrible mistake! One of the men took advantage of that opportune moment and slashed the woman's back with his dosu.

The woman fell on her knees because of the pain and almost lost her grip on her katana. But she's not going to allow pain to weaken her. Just as all five men charged at her simultaneously, she swung her katana and before Sawatari could process what just happened in his mind, the five men were already lying face-down on the ground.

There was a moment of dead silence. Sawatari could not believe what he just saw and he stood there, staring into nothingness.

He snapped out of his trance when he heard, Minoru yell, "Kumicho!"

"Yama-gu-chi sensei?" Sawatari whispered as if the name doesn't suit the person he was looking at at that moment.

Yamaguchi Kumiko was still on her knees, with her back facing Sawatari and Minoru. Blood was dripping from the long cut on her back but it didn't seem to be that deep. Using her katana for support, she slowly stood-up. Then she carefully took off her torn and bloody jacket. She was wearing a white tank top underneath it but the back of that top was slashed-open as well, leaving her back exposed.

That's when Sawatari noticed something strange on her back. The rain was blurring his vision so he walked a bit closer towards her and squinted. At first he thought she was wearing something underneath her white top. But he was mistaken. His jaw dropped as he realized what it was.

It was an "_Irezumi_" (tattoo) showing a long and mighty dragon. And it was so vast that it covered almost her entire back!

That was the last straw for Sawatari! All this blood and fighting and yakuza craziness was just too much for him to handle. As he gasped at the sight of Kumiko's Irezumi, everything turned black and he fell to the ground with a loud _thud_!

_**Ooedo Clan Headquarters**_

"Sawatari-sensei! Sawatari-sensei! Are you alright?"

Sawatari slowly opened his eyes. The round, grinning face of Minoru greeted him.

"Waaah! Where am I? What happened!" He screamed in panic. Then his memories came back to him. He remembered Minoru taking him to the pier. He remembered the intense yakuza showdown between Yamaguchi-sensei and fifty men with swords. And then he remembered the bodies, lots and lots of bloody bodies lying on the ground!!

As he started to recall everything that had happened, he began to panic even more! He held his head between his hands and started yelling like a crazy person. Then he saw Minoru's grinning face again and he remembered whose fault it was that he had to experience such a traumatic event! "You!" he angrily yelled at Minoru.

"Eh? What about me?" Minoru asked, looking like an innocent little puppy.

"Stop acting all innocent! Why the hell did you have to bring me to that place!! Why?! Why?!" Sawatari yelled, louder and louder.

Minoru's smile slowly vanished and he gently said, "I wanted you to see her! I wanted you to see what our Ojou has become."

As he saw Minoru's sorrowful face once more, Sawatari's anger vanished. How could he stay mad at such a pitiful-looking man? Instead of yelling some more, he just asked, "Why did you want me to see her?"

"Because I thought… maybe you could help her."

"Help her?"

"Yes!" Minoru was on the verge of tears as he continued, "Ever since she was young, Ojou dreamed of becoming a teacher like her father. But after our leader's death, she completely gave up that dream! But when you came here, I thought…well, maybe you could convince her to teach again?"

"But isn't this what you wanted? For Yamaguchi-sensei to take over the family business? So why –"

"Not like this!" Minoru yelled, all of a sudden. "The Ojou I know was always smiling. She was kind and gentle and cheerful. But now she's like a completely different person. Teaching is a part of who she is and without it, she'd probably get buried deeper and deeper into this dark world! I don't want that to happen to her! So please! I beg you! Please help her!"

Sawatari stared at the floor, slightly ashamed of himself. He could understand what Minoru was saying, but Sawatari's too much of a coward to be able to do something like that. He was too afraid to even talk to that person that Yamaguchi-sensei had become, so how could he possibly convince her! So he plainly replied to Minoru, "I'm sorry. I can't help you!"

"Why?! She's helped you countless times before right? So why won't you help her now!?"

"Because…" Sawatari didn't know what to say. He came to this place to ask for Yamaguchi-sensei's help. But now someone's asking for his help, and all he could do was run away. He really was a worthless man. But he was too proud to admit it so instead of saying his true feelings he said, "Because, she can't be helped anymore! She's not just a woman who came from a yakuza family anymore! She has actually taken lives with her own hands! How can I ask someone like that to teach again?! That would be irresponsible!"

Minoru suddenly stood up and yelled angrily, "Ojou has never taken anyone's life! Back there at the pier, she was just protecting our family!"

Now, Sawatari was confused. "But…but all those men at the pier…they're dead right?"

"Of course not! Ojou just wounded them but none of those wounds are fatal! She didn't even want to use a katana but since the enemy was armed, she had no choice! She may have changed a lot but she's not a bad person! She can never take a life!"

Even with his huge ego, Sawatari knew he was at fault here so he bowed and apologized.

At that moment, the door opened and Sugawara entered the room. "Ah, Sawatari-sensei, you're already awake!" he cheerfully said. Then he switched to a more serious tone and said, "By the way, Kumicho would like to speak to you."

Sawatari looked at Minoru before leaving with Sugimura. Minoru still had that pleading expression on his face and he mouthed the words "Please help her! I beg you!" to Sawatari. And so, for the first time in his life, Sawatari was put in a position where his decision could change someone's life.

Sugimura led him to the dining area where Kumiko and the two other members of the Ooedo clan were waiting. Sawatari, warily sat beside Sugimura.

Kumiko didn't look as scary now as she did in the pier but there was still something different about her. As Sawatari tried to figure out what, she suddenly spoke.

"Sawatari-sensei, I'll go straight to the point. What were you doing at the pier?" Her tone was very business-like and had no hint of emotion.

"Kumicho!" Minoru interrupted as he stormed into the room. He bowed low on the floor, his face redder and sweatier than ever. And without looking up he yelled, "Forgive me Kumicho! I was the one who brought him there!"

"Minoru! You idiot!" Tetsu yelled.

"I'm sorry!" Minoru repeated his head still facing the floor.

"It doesn't matter Tetsu!" Kumiko said, still in a business-like manner. She then returned her attention to Sawatari-sensei, "Why did you come here?"

Now it was Sawatari who looked down on the floor with sweat trickling down his forehead. The moment has come for him to be a man for once in his life. But somehow the words wouldn't come out of his mouth.

"Sawatari-sensei. Don't tell me you came here just to give me your condolences?"

Well, he came here to do one thing and he wouldn't leave without being able to do so. So, Sawatari clenched his fists, raised his head and looked straight at Kumiko's eyes as he said, "No! I came here because I need your help!"

"You need my help?"

"Yes! I didn't want to do this but I have no other choice…" he paused for a moment and took a deep breath. Then he suddenly bowed really low on the floor and yelled "Please teach at our school! Yamaguchi-sensei! I beg you!"

NOTE: In case you're wondering why Minoru still calls Yankumi Ojou sometimes, even though she's now a Kumicho. Well, that's because he still couldn't accept the current Yankumi as his leader. Plus he misses the old Ojou and he could not accept this scary and serious Kumicho.

_**NEXT CHAPTER: The Worst 3-D! **_


End file.
